cleaning and maintaining one's appearance; preparing someone for a particular purpose or activity
from groom, from Middle English grom meaning 'boy, servant', later extended to caring for horses and then personal care
The word 'groom' originally meant a young male servant who took care of horses - that's why we still call the man at a wedding a 'groom'!
Carries distinct meanings: personal hygiene (gender-neutral historically) vs. predatory abuse (increasingly gendered, disproportionately targets children, esp. girls; perpetrators stereotyped as male). Context critical.
Disambiguate: 'personal grooming' (hygiene) vs. 'grooming as abuse' (predatory behavior). Recognize abuse occurs across genders; avoid gendering perpetrators/victims stereotypically.
Survivors of abuse (disproportionately women and LGBTQ+ youth) deserve language that centers their experience; perpetrator accountability must not rely on gender stereotypes.
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